


Public Enemies

by IWriteFicsNotTragedies



Category: Avengers, Black Widow - Fandom, Captain America, Hawkeye - Fandom, Iron Man - Fandom, Marvel, The Incredible Hulk, Thor - Fandom
Genre: 1930s, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Other, Vigilante, gangster au, mentions of depression
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-16
Updated: 2014-10-16
Packaged: 2018-02-21 09:05:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2462543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWriteFicsNotTragedies/pseuds/IWriteFicsNotTragedies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gangster Avengers AU<br/>Wherein the avengers are a secret vigilante group that eventually find each other and go after criminals the hard way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Public Enemies

**Author's Note:**

> I do not take credit for the prompt - it belongs to [mamalaz](http://mamalaz.tumblr.com/post/88580858662/gangsta-avengers-au-wherein-the-avengers-are-a) on tumblr. Other than that, I've got nothing to say. I hope this fulfills everyone's wishes.  
> The prologue is just introducing a small portion of the story and the characters, the rest of the story will be told from the character's point of views as it happens to them.

The smell of smoke and stale beer hung in the air like bad perfume, and although it was a familiar smell by now, it did little to comfort the patrons of the speakeasy. While many were used primarily for the purpose of drinking without being arrested by the police, the one in the heart of Brooklyn, on the other hand, acted as a makeshift base for a vigilante group that called themselves the Avengers.

It was a quaint little building, as was the usual for the bars in the area, with a small sitting area and an even smaller bar that now could legally only serve soft drinks, water, and food, but anyone who knew the right phrase could get alcohol, albeit for a hefty price. To the left of the bar was a small door that lead into the manager’s office, and the ‘supply closet’ behind the manager’s desk lead to a basement that served as the headquarters of the vigilante group. It was a stuffy space with a desk that held a straight key and pads of paper, weights, a sparring ring, and just enough space left over to hold an archery range. Needless to say that when there were more than three people, it became a bit of a crowd in the basement; Director Fury claimed to be working on securing a second front so they could have a larger area so they could move and practice freely without bumping into each other.

The Avengers consisted of three people. There was Director Fury; he issued orders and kept them organized so they wouldn’t get swallowed up in the rush of everything, what with Prohibition and the tension between the European countries, and then there was Natasha Romanov, and Clint Barton. Natasha, code named Black Widow, was the most diplomatic of the three, and by far the most cunning, spoke multiple languages, and was their go-to person when they needed information. Clint, code named Hawkeye, was no where near as diplomatic as Natasha, but for what he lacked in diplomacy he made up for in sharpshooting. Despite their amazing abilities, the three of them simply weren’t enough to keep Brooklyn out of the gutter. They did what they could, but the three of them could only do so much to help, especially since they seemed to be at the top of the public enemies list, despite all the good they were doing their community.

In hopes of making their situation better, Fury had Clint and Natasha scouring the city for people that could help their cause - bonus points if they weren’t moles. There were a few that caught their eyes, but after further inspection, it seemed that they didn’t have the stomach or mindset for what they did. Just as the Director was about to pull the two agents to set them on tasks that required their attention and give up the dream of finding extra help, a scientist showed up. Natasha was the one to find him, and her initial impression of him was a man with a silver spoon shoved up his ass, but a genius when it came to robotics and weaponry. She was right, of course, but that didn’t make her like him any more. His name was Tony Stark, and his name had been in the paper a few times. Sometimes it was because he had made a huge scientific accomplishment, and other times it was because he had broken a law of some sort. According to Natasha, Stark had an extreme case of narcissism and an ego the size of America, Clint just thought he knew how to have fun though.

The next member was found a few months later, he was a scientist as well, only without the humongous ego with a side of daddy issues. He was as smart, if not smarter than Stark, but he was just as flawed, and his name was Bruce Banner. Instead of the usual ego that most scientists seemed to have, he had intermittent explosive disorder. One minute, he’d be having a calm debate about the latest weapons and technology, and the next minute, he’d be destroying everything in the room. Because Bruce had IED, universities and research facilities wouldn’t allow him to work for them, despite him being a brilliant and accomplished scientist. Despite the fact that the other three walked on eggshells around him, unsure what would set him off and what wouldn’t, everyone seemed to get along with him just fine, and he almost seemed happy. Almost.

Clint found a man who called himself Thor in a bar fight. He was a hulking six feet three inches, and was built like a god. For no obvious reason, his weapon of choice was the hammer, and although they questioned his choice of weapon, it’s effectiveness was indisputable. It didn’t take long for a general mistrust to form between the mountain of a man and Stark, they seemed to rub each other the wrong way intentionally, only stopping when Natasha or the Director stepped in. After a while, the other Avengers learned not to ask Thor where he was from, because he claimed to be from Asgard. Although he swore on his mother and father that it was a real place, he couldn’t describe it to them nor could he point to it on a map. Clint assumed it was someplace in England, and left it at that.

The final member seemed to have joined them almost by accident, stumbling into their not-quite bar to nurse his bleeding nose while his friend accused him of being reckless and careless, while he defended that it was the right thing to do. After his friend had left, it was later discovered that the scrawny man was Steve Rogers, and that he was born and raised in Brooklyn. It didn’t take long for Director Fury to warm up to Rogers, and decide that he was the kind of man that they needed on their team. Although Thor and Tony were much larger than him and far more skilled in hand to hand combat, Steve found himself picking fights with them, doing anything he could to get them to do what he wanted when it came to plans. More often than not, he found himself with a bleeding body part and wounded pride as he carried out the plan that he had fought against.

With four more members, the Avengers seemed to be catching up with the pace of the city. They managed to put down crime rings that had been neglected or overlooked by the police, keep illegal arms trades from going down, and on one occasion, they even managed to stop a bank heist. Everything seemed to be going well for the team, but it turned out that all the good they had done over the past two years would be insubstantial compared to the damage that would be done by the Triad.

**Author's Note:**

> NOTICE: I am looking for a beta, if anyone is interested please send me a message through tumblr. My page can be found [here](http://wescribe.tumblr.com/) .


End file.
